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Navigating Summer Tech Use: A Healthy Balance for Families
As summer begins, we’re all excited for longer days, family adventures, and well-deserved relaxation. However, with more free time, it’s natural for kids to gravitate towards screens. At Berwick Academy, we believe in fostering a balanced, mindful approach to technology that helps children thrive during the summer months—and beyond.
The Wellness team has compiled a helpful “Guide to Summer Screen Time” that encourages families to think of screen time as a garden: some digital activities can help kids grow and learn, while others may act more like weeds, cluttering their environment without real benefit. By setting intentional boundaries and nurturing curiosity, families can make technology work for them, not the other way around.
Here are some highlights and resources from the guide:
- Create a Family Plan: Collaborate with your kids to design a plan they understand and can respect. Common Sense Media’s Tech Planners are a great starting point.
- Set Realistic Boundaries: Keep rules simple and consistent, but stay open to adjustments when needed.
- Prioritize Offline Fun: Brainstorm non-tech activities as a family to encourage boredom-busting adventures away from screens.
- Be the Role Model: Kids notice what you do! Show them the value of offline experiences by taking breaks from your own devices.
- Consider the Tech “Triangle”: Use this framework to evaluate the types of digital content your kids are using—encouraging creativity and learning while limiting exposure to addictive or unproductive content.
Last fall, Director of Wellness Kim Kryder hosted a Zoom with Devorah Heitner, author of Growing Up in Public, a fantastic resource for parents navigating kids’ digital lives.
If you’d like to learn more about balancing digital and offline life, check out the full Guide to Summer Screen Time. Let’s make this summer a season of growth, discovery, and joy—online and off!
Berwick Academy
31 Academy Street
South Berwick, Maine 03908
Contact:
Admission | 207.384.6300
Main Office | 207.384.2164
South Berwick, Maine 03908
Contact:
Admission | 207.384.6300
Main Office | 207.384.2164
Berwick Academy, situated on an 80-acre campus just over one hour north of Boston, serves 520 students, Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 and Postgraduates. Berwick students are from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and several countries. Deeply committed to its mission of promoting virtue and useful knowledge, Berwick Academy empowers students to be creative and bold. Berwick strives to graduate alumni who shape their own learning, take risks, ask thoughtful questions, and come to understand and celebrate their authentic selves.
